


in vitro

by s_coups



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Memory Loss, Possession, Post-Canon Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, the gangs all here!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 13:15:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20489486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s_coups/pseuds/s_coups
Summary: steve has seen some pretty messed up things in his life. but finding billy hargrove hauling himself out of steve's pool when four weeks ago he was pronounced dead definitely takes the fucking cake.





	in vitro

**Author's Note:**

> i absolutely have no idea if i'm ever going to finish this, just a pre-warning. i (hand)wrote all of this while on vacation when i didn't have any internet, and it's been sitting in my docs for weeks, but i didn't want to let it go to waste. ;; please bully me into getting this finished because i have the entire plot fleshed out, i just haven't gotten around to actually writing past the first chapter.
> 
> edit: i almost forgot! i made a playlist to to along with this fic that [you can find here on spotify.](https://open.spotify.com/user/efirny/playlist/4MKTnASffh3W3u4bXalSRp?si=JDxNVosRS8atKVn5ogRk8w) the title also comes from the poem of the same name by dacre montgomery

Steve has a face mask on when it happens.

Well, actually, it's a hair mask. Robin had come over to spend the night because Steve's parents were, once again, missing in action (or on a business trip to New York City, or whatever), and she had brought along with her a bunch of eggs and mayonnaise and whipped together a DIY hair mask, claiming Steve's hair was "dehydrated and in desperate need of a pick-me-up". Steve didn't know what that meant, exactly, but he knows for sure that he's drank too much when he allows her to not only massage it into his scalp, but smear it on his face as well, "just to see what happens".

They're six beers deep between the two of them and shoveling a second bag of popcorn into their mouths at breakneck speed when Steve hears what sounds like a splashing noise from his backyard.

He sits up abruptly, almost kneeing Robin in the temple from where she's got her head in his lap, and she makes a noise of protest, pausing the shitty 60's movies they were marathoning from work.

"Hello, earth to dingus?" Robin says, and Steve slaps his hand over her mouth to get her to shut up.

"Shut up for a second," He whispers, eyes trained on what little bit of the sliding doors into the backyard he could see. She licks his palm, giggling, and he resists the urge to smack her upside the head.

There's another splashing noise, and this time, Robin hears it. Steve can tell by the way she goes stock still, reaching up to grab Steve's hand half so she could speak, and half out of nervousness. "What the hell was that?"

Steve shrugs, wiggling under her in an indication for her to move. She sits up and he gets to his feet, moving slowly towards the doors like if he takes enough time whatever the source of the noise is will disappear.

Robin's got this look on her face, one of terror that Steve can recognize. She had it for about a week after the incident at Starcourt, looking paranoid and jumping at every noise she heard. She still got like that, sometimes, if they were both closing at work and it was too quiet and a customer barged in at the last minute, startling her. 

Steve briefly thinks that it was probably not in his best interest to move towards the noise, but he's already halfway there.

“Steve,” Robin hisses, a warning, but he’s already closer to the door than her, so he doesn’t stop himself or pause to answer. He briefly wishes he had his bat, but it was stowed away in the trunk of his car.

The splashing makes way to clear footsteps, wet and solid against the patio. Steve’s fingers tremble as he reaches for the light switch, as though the brightness may startle the intruder like a child thinks a monster under it’s bed might be scared if they don’t allow the room to succumb to darkness.

He flicks the switch, the same time whatever it is stumbles and collapses to the ground just before the doors. Steve feels his heart drop into his stomach.

_ “Billy?” _

Steve calls Nancy, because that’s the only person he can think of in the situation that could help him. He doesn’t know any of the kids numbers besides Dustin, and it’s way too late for him to call his house, anyway.

As the phone rings, he eyes Billy, who he managed to drag inside with assistance from Robin and lay on the couch. Robin was attempting to dry the water from Billy, and Steve can only assume the splashing noise they had heard was Billy in his pool.  _ Why  _ exactly Billy was in his pool in the first place, when he should be six feet under the ground, Steve can’t be sure.

“Wheeler residence,” A chipper voice answers, and Steve winces to himself, wishing Nancy had just picked up instead of her mother.

“Hello, Mrs. Wheeler,” He begins, trying his best to not let his voice waver. “This is Steve Harrington. I apologize for calling so late, but if it’s possible, could I please speak to Nancy? It’s an emergency,” He tacks on quickly, trying to convey the urgency of the situation without letting on how big of a deal it actually was.

Mrs. Wheeler pauses, most likely wondering why Nancy’s ex-boyfriend was calling at eleven o’clock at night when she hadn’t seen him in over a year, but when she finally replies, “Hold on one moment, Steven, I’ll see if she’s awake,” he breathes a sigh of relief.

A few moments pass that seem too long, and then Nancy’s voice comes through the line, “Steve? Is everything alright?”

Steve lets out a shaky laugh. “Yeah, uh. No? Kind of? Um. I don’t know how to say this. Well, Robin and I were watching movies and- you know, obviously it wasn’t, like, a date or anything, and we were drinking but that’s not the point-”

“Steve,” Nancy cuts him off, voice sharp. “Is this a prank? What do you want?”

“Sorry, I’m rambling,” Steve eyes where Robin is pushing Billy’s hair out of his face, looking just as confused as he feels. “Um. Billy is at my house.”

There’s a long pause. Then, “Billy  _ Hargrove _ ? Is that supposed to be funny?”

Steve squeezes his eyes shut. “No, I swear, this isn’t a joke. He was in my fucking pool, and he passed out in my backyard. He’s on my couch right now, and I’m trying to play it cool, but honestly, Nance, I’m freaking the  _ fuck  _ out.” 

Nancy doesn’t respond for a long time. So long, in fact, that Steve has to make sure she’s still there.

“Nance?”

“Yes.”

“Are you… Can you come over? I don’t exactly know what to do when someone who’s been dead for four weeks suddenly shows up in my backyard, clearly alive.”

There’s a strange clicking noise on the other line, and then suddenly Mike’s voice comes through, clear as day, “Billy is at your fucking  _ house?!” _

“Mike!” Nancy shrieks, half into the phone and half off the line. “Get off the freaking phone!”

“We heard you say Billy!” Mike yells.

“I don’t care! Hang up!”

Steve rubs his head vigorously. The last thing he needs is all of the kids showing up at his house, too. Nancy shouts at Mike through the phone, and Steve is left listening to the siblings dissolve into bickering, when there’s a gasping sound from the couch.

Billy’s eyes snap open, and he lurches into a sitting position, automatic reflexes making him smack Robin’s hand away from where she was wiping at his forehead. He stares at Robin, face mirroring her shock, before he hears the muffled noise from the phone and turns, meets Steve’s gaze.

“Nance, I gotta go,” Steve announces over the siblings arguing. “He just woke up.”

He hangs up the phone, and the house is plunged into silence.

One of them should speak. Steve should say something. Billy is staring at him like he didn’t just wake up in an almost stranger’s house, and is instead wondering why Steve disturbed his beauty sleep. 

Than Robin reaches out again, to wipe at his forehead, and Billy catches her wrist in his hand with quick reflexes, fixing her with a murderous glare.

"Billy," Steve says, slowly. "Billy, no one is going to hurt you. Let go of Robin's arm."

Billy makes no move to do as he's told. Steve has been on the receiving end of his fist before, and he knows just how  _ strong _ Billy is, although it doesn't seem like he was gripping Robin that hard, seeing as she didn't seem that bothered by it.

"Billy," Steve repeats. He approaches him slowly, like a startled baby deer. "What do you remember?"

Billy cocks his head to one side, brows furrowing in confusion, and it's so out of character from the Billy he knew just a month ago that Steve stops midstep. 

"Do you know who I am?" Steve asks.

Robin reaches out with her free hand and wraps it around Billy's wrist so she can pull her own free. Billy lets her do it, watching her take his hand in hers and squeeze it reassuringly.

"Billy," She whispers. "Do you know where you are?"

Billy considers her for a long moment; long enough that Steve is able to approach the couch as they wait for him to respond. Finally, he shakes his head hesitantly, eyes flickering from Robin to Steve and back again.

"You're at Steve's house," Robin says. "Do you remember Steve?"

Steve gives a little wave for lack of anything else to do. He can see Robin rolling her eyes as Billy meets Steve's gaze again, studying him.

A voice rings in his head.  _ Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington? _

_ Yeah,  _ His own voice thinks back.  _ It's me. Don't cream your pants. _

Billy shakes his head again. Steve gets a weird, tight feeling in his chest.

The doorbell rings around midnight, and when Steve swings open the door, Nancy is standing there, flanked by the kids.

Steve rubs his forehead when he spots them. "Did you have to bring the whole peanut gallery with you?"

Mike shoves past him, welcoming himself into Steve's house like he lives there, and Lucas and Dustin follow on heel. 

"Yes!" Dustin calls out over his shoulder as they head for the kitchen.

Nancy looks tense, wrapped in her denim jacket and still wearing her pajama pants. "Where is he?"

Steve opens the door wider, gesturing for her to come in. She hesitates, and he has a strong and terrifying flash of a realization that the last time she came to his house was with Barb.

He swallows down the bile that threatens to rise in his throat. "He's upstairs showering. He must've been in my pool or something, because he was soaking wet when he showed up"

Nancy nods, stepping inside, and Steve double locks the door behind her for good measure.

When they enter the kitchen, the kids are munching away on the leftover popcorn, and Mike had thrown open the pantry, examining its contents like it was a restaurant.

"Got anything else to eat, Stevie?" He asks, and Nancy smacks him upside the head as she moves to sit at the table beside Dustin.

"Don't be a brat, Mike," She snaps. "We're not here for a party."

"It's not a party yet, not everyone's here," Dustin says cheerily. "Max is on her way."

Steve pales considerably.  _ "Max _ is coming?" He asks, and it comes out squeaky and shocked.

Lucas gives him a funny look. "Why wouldn't she? It's her brother, isn't it?"

"Speaking of," Mike slams the pantry closed. "Where is the brute?"

"He's uh, upstairs," Steve pulls out a chair and sits backwards on it, mind already reeling with what he's going to do when Max arrives. "Listen, Billy isn't… he isn't himself."

"You mean he didn't kick your ass the minute he saw you?" Dustin jokes.

Steve doesn't even have the heart to throw him a dirty look, instead running his hands through his hair and sighing heavily. "No, he just… he didn't even recognize me."

Nancy frowns. "At first?"

"At  _ all." _

The kids have gone quiet, seemingly understanding the severity of the situation now. Steve isn't sure if they thought this was some prank he had played on them just to get them to come hang out with him, but they definitely didn't think that now.

"Where has he been, since… you know?" Dustin asks, slowly.

"Dunno," Steve says. "He hasn't said anything, yet. Just nodding and shaking his head." 

"What a change," Lucas mutters under his breath, and Mike hides a snort behind his hand. 

The sound of floorboards creaking on the stairs indicates someone coming down, and a second later Robin comes flying around the staircase and into the kitchen, gasping for breath.

"You guys gotta fuckin see this," She wheezes, pointing upstairs.

They scramble to get up the stairs before each other, Nancy and Steve shoving the kids out of the way to go first. There's a lot of grumbling from the kids, but they all grind to a halt at the top of the stairs when Billy rounds the corner from the bathroom.

He's wearing a pair of Steve's sweats, low on hips and tight around the thighs, and he's got a clean tee in one hand, clearly preparing to put it on. His hair is damp and pulled back into a bun (something Steve has never seen before, but he'll deal with  _ that  _ later), little curls already drying around his temple.

But that's not what stops them all. No, what freezes them up is Billy's bare chest, or rather, the scars on his chest.

There's dozens of them, ranging from tiny little lines to huge, jagged rips. The biggest one is in the very center of his chest, almost a perfect circle, thin skin stretched out as far as it could to cover a wound that no human could survive.

Steve thinks back to the 4th, when that horrible, horrible  _ thing  _ had been looming over Billy and Hopper's kid at the mall, and Billy had thrown himself at it in an attempt to save her. That thing had shoved it's tentacle right through Billy's chest, clean out the other side. Steve had seen it. He had covered Robin's eyes when she turned her face into his chest, when Billy had started screaming. He remembers.

Then Billy looks up, sees them standing there, and says with startling clarity, "You're Nancy."

Steve's stomach twists again. Billy recognizes Nancy, but not him?

Nancy looks just as confused, however, and she stays tucked just behind Steve and Robin's shoulders, clearly too nervous to approach Billy any closer. "Yes," She whispers, voice small.

Billy nods, like she said something else, and pulls on the tee in his hands. It's too tight on him, his biceps bulging in it, and Steve feels a pang of jealousy at how well Billy fills out his clothing.

"I have something for you," He says, conversationally. Nancy glances at Steve for context, but he's just as lost. To his right, Mike looks ready to fight Billy, like he thinks the thing Billy's going to offer his older sister is a slap in the face.

Billy disappears back into the bathroom, and comes out a moment later with a crumpled, damp paper. He shakes it out, and little white flakes fall to the floor. Steve can't place them- Snow? Pollen?

Billy takes a step forward, holding the paper out for Nancy. He looks expectantly at her, and it takes a few seconds before she reaches out with shaky fingers and takes the paper from him. 

Steve peers down at it as she unfolds it. It's written in smeared black ink, clearly water-stained from the pool, but still legible.

** _NANCY_ **

** _STAY AWAY FROM THE POOL. FOLLOW THE PIPELINES TO CHICAGO. MAKE SURE BILLY STAYS CLOSE. CUT OFF THE HEAD, DESTROY THE BODY._ **

** _X BARB_ **

** _P.S. DON'T BREATHE THE PURPLE GAS._ **

Nancy's head snaps up, shock flooding her features. Billy is still looking at her with an expectant expression, as though waiting to hear her reply.

"Did you," Nancy's voice breaks, and Steve can see her hands trembling. "Did you write this?"

Billy frowns at her, and shakes his head.

"Billy," Steve says, slowly. "Where did you get this?"

Billy gives him a look like he's stupid, and it's the closest he's come to the old Billy all night. "Barbara."

Nancy lets out a noise that sounds like a sob. Billy looks at Robin, as though for a cue as to what to say next. Robin looks just as confused, although probably because she has no idea what exactly happened to Barb.

"Okay, um," Steve scrabbles to reign control of the situation, sensing Nancy spiraling beside him. "Let's, uh- Let's get you something to eat."

"This is weird," Dustin mutters later that evening.

They stand huddled in the living room archway, watching Billy eat on the couch beside Robin, eyes fixated on the television as though he had never seen one before. He seemed to have taken a liking to Robin, following her around like a lost puppy, even letting her blow dry his hair without complaint.

"You're tellin' me," Steve grumbles, still reeling with shock at Billy's note. Or, rather, Barb's note.

The doorbell rings again, making them all jump. Lucas runs to get it, and Steve is wondering who else would be coming over when he remembers- Max.

He rushes to meet the two halfway down the hall. Max had her skateboard tucked under her arm, her hair a disheveled mess and in her pajamas, too.

"What's going on?" She demands as soon as she sees Steve.

He gives Lucas a pointed look. "You didn't tell her on the phone?"

Lucas has the audacity to look sheepish. "I was getting to it.'

Max raises an eyebrow at them both. "Well?"

Steve's mouth twists as he tries to think of the best way to explain to Max that her previously deceased brother was in the other room, chowing down happily on popcorn and watching Star Wars.

"Billy's alive," Lucas blurts out, without any consideration for the delicacy of the situation.

Max's eyes look like they're about to pop out of her head, her complexion paling. "Excuse me?"

"He's not dead," Lucas continues, and Steve wishes he could slap him. Lucas seems to have lost all control of his brain-to-mouth filter. "He came out of Steve's pool, and now he's in the living room."

Steve glares at him, holding up his hands. "Max, hold on-"

She's already shouldering her way past them both with an unsurprising amount of strength. Steve gives Lucas his most disappointed Dad look before they hurry after her.

The clatter of Max's skateboard against the wood floor is loud, and clearly startles Billy. He looks up from the television, shocked, and Steve watches his eyes when he sees Max. There doesn't seem to be any recognition in them at all.

"Billy?" Max whispers, voice quiet and reverent, like she's afraid he might disappear if she speaks too loudly. "Is that really you?"

Billy's expression morphs into one of curiosity. He glances uncertainly at Robin, and than at Steve, as though waiting for a cue on what to do next. When neither of them help, Billy just nods.

"It's me," Max says, voice wobbling. "Maxine. Your sister."

Billy looks at Robin. Robin squeezes his hand reassuringly.

"Do you remember her, Billy?" Robin asks quietly.

The whole room holds its breath. Billy shakes his head, and Max dissolves into sobs on Steve's living room floor.

There's a lot of questions that need to be answered. Everyone eventually disperses, taking a distraught Max with them, after Nancy and Steve discuss their best options. Billy's best options, which seems to be staying with Steve. His parents were out for the rest of the month, and Billy's actual home was off limits, according to Max.

"He can't come home," Max had said through sniffles.

"Why?" Mike asked.

"He just can't," Max said, fixing them all with a steely gaze. Steve has a weird feeling he doesn't want to know the details of why. So, Steve's house it is.

Billy listened to this discussion in silence. He's still watching Max curiously, almost like he knows he should be able to recognize her, and that she's a significant figure in his life, but just can't.

Nancy herds the kids out, but not before making Steve promise he'd call Jonathan Byers tomorrow. So he could talk to his little sister, and maybe see if she knew what the fuck was happening to Billy. Or how he was even alive.

The door clicks shut, and Robin and Steve are left alone with Billy once again. Steve doesn't know why but his stomach seems to be in knots at the idea. He rationalizes it's because the last time he was almost alone with Billy, the other boy had beaten him within an inch of his life.

When he re-enters the living room, Billy is hunched over a piece of paper, scribbling something vehemently. Robin sits with a gentle hand on his shoulder beside him. Steve watches from the entryway, arms crossed and brow furrowed.

Billy eventually raises his head, and almost startles when he sees Steve standing there. Robin pats Billy gingerly on the back, and carefully takes the paper from him.

Steve watches her face change as she looks at it. Her guarded expression fades, replaced for a split second by absolute horror. It lasts all of a millisecond before she's smoothing her expression out again, and placing the paper face down on the coffee table.

"Billy," She begins, softly. "Why don't we go to bed now?"

Billy looks at Steve. Steve stares back at him, unsure as to what he wanted.

"Okay," Billy finally says, turning his gaze back to Robin. Steve just stands there as they both get to their feet, just watches them slip past him to head upstairs.

He approaches the coffee table once he hears their footsteps through the ceiling above him. He picks up the discarded paper and flips it over.

It's a messy, crude drawing. Of what, Steve can't be sure. It looks to be of a man, surrounded by ominous, long black tendrils. The tendrils seem to have spikes protruding from them, some of them wrapped around the man's throat. Blood spills over the man's body, pooling at his feet.

Steve puts the drawing face-down on the table again, stomach turning sickly.


End file.
